What Congressman Lamborn Is Doing to Help the Son of Hamas—Mosab Hasson Yousef

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was a valuable and unlikely spy for Israel. He was recruited after being arrested in 1996 by Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, to spy on the Islamic resistance movement his father founded in Palestine. The details were eventually released in his memoir, Son of Hamas (via The New York Daily News). He would not help Israeli police capture his father (who was arrested in 2005), but Yousef was legendary for foiling numerous attacks before moving to California and converting to Christianity. Yousef now faces the prospect of deportation—unless he is granted political asylum. Among Yousef’s allies is Congressman Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican, who has begun gathering signatures in the House of Representatives to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the deportation, according to The Daily Caller. In a letter supported by a handful of lawmakers, Lamborn writes, “We understand that Mr. Yousef’s Shin Bet handler will attest to Mr. Yousef’s courageous work to prevent acts of terror, as well as attest that Mr. Yousef harbors no loyalty to or affiliation with a foreign terrorist organization.

“Additionally, Mr. Yousef’s conversion to Christianity and work with Israeli intelligence services would place Mr. Yousef in grave danger should he be forced to return to the Middle East. These important conditions must also be taken into consideration as Mr. Yousef’s immigration status is adjudicated.” On his SonOfHamas blog, Yousef writes, “Now I am Homeland Security File #A 088 271 051…..and must be deported,” adding that he has a hearing in a San Diego immigration court this Wednesday, June 30. The Institute on Religion & Democracy recently said it did not want to see Yousef deported to the West Bank. An official there, J.H. McDonnell, tells CNN the younger Yousef is a key ally and “a great source of help in understanding what we face in radical Islam.”